Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Technology => Topic started by: thedoc on 25/09/2015 18:50:01
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Paul asked the Naked Scientists:
I saw a robot on TV spill the contents of a plate. When I carry my cup of coffee to the tearoom (coffeeroom?) table at work, I watch the coffee to see if the mug is upright so the coffee does not spill and I adjust my wrist to compensate for any variance and to avoid any embarrassment. Some cellphones these days have software in them which senses if they are upright. Perhaps robot (depending on their tasks) also need similar software/hardware to cope with possible spills.
What do you think?
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I believe visually impaired people sometimes carry their coffee with a thumb over the rim to keep from spilling it.
It is not feasible -- yet -- to give robots the biological sense of stereognosis. If you lose stereognosis - in the words of Yusuf Islam -- you won't have to walk no more. [1.]
You can't put a gyroscope in peoples' heads without cosmetic problems. [hint. hint.]
[1.]
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The current popularity of cheap helicopter drones is partly due to the ready availability of cheap micromechanical accelerometers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerometer#Consumer_electronics) - originally used to control airbags in cars, and now installed in every smartphone and in cameras with image stabilization.
This has made it much easier to control the drones - the drone keeps itself stable, and the "pilot" tells it where to go.
Presumably, a robot could have an accelerometer in its hand, to keep the coffee stable. However, it would also need to model the sloshing of the liquid, otherwise the most stable solution would be to keep the coffee cup right where the coffee was originally poured!
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Actually, bottom weighted gimbles in cars and boats, or hanging a platform and putting the cup on it, can virtually stop cups from spilling, so it's not particularly difficult.